Important: Please ensure that the donor is refrigerated until the time of retrieval. If no cooler is available, please pack the head in wet ice until the brain autopsy is performed.

The Brain Bank staff must be alerted before the retrieval is started in order to coordinate pickup by the courier service. Please be prepared to give a time at which the tissue will be ready for pickup.

Before commencing brain retrieval:

Secure a sample of hair from the back of the head. Hair should be pulled or plucked and not cut, in order to obtain a full-length sample including the root or follicle. Rongeurs may be used for this purpose. Fold the foil carefully over the hair sample and place it in the envelope.

Important: Do not place the hair sample inside the cooler. Place it on top of the sealed cooler with the paperwork for the case.

After opening the calvarium, carefully cut through the dura. Withdraw 5 to 10 milliliters of clear cerebrospinal fluid from the 3rd ventricle or from the area adjacent to the spinal cord behind the tentorium. This is to be placed in a plastic tube and included with the tissue.

Cut through the tentorium to free the cerebellum. With scissors or scalpel, cut through the cervical cord as far down the shaft of the spinal column as possible, so as to include the C1 portion of spinal cord with the brain.

Weigh the brain and place in a plastic bag. Close securely. Place this bag in a second bag and close securely. Place the double-bagged brain tissue in the plastic bucket.

Remove the pituitary and place in a 15-milliliter tube or container. Place both the pituitary and cerebrospinal fluid tubes in a Ziploc bag.

Spinal Cord Retrieval:

When using the spinal saw, cut through the spine as far down the side as is feasible, in order to expose the dorsal root ganglia.

When the cord is fully exposed, loosen the ganglia gently with a scalpel before removing the cord.

Secure the entire spinal cord, including the cauda equina, and place in a plastic bag. The best method to prevent damage is to coil the cord in a circle or spiral. Close the bag securely and place in a second plastic bag. Close this bag and place cord in the plastic bucket on top of the brain.

Close the bucket securely and place entire bucket in a plastic bag. Close bag and place in the lined styrofoam cooler.

Put the Ziploc bag containing the cerebrospinal fluid and pituitary tubes into the cooler with the brain.